


Megaman and Sonic: Dimension Panic

by Dragodonv2



Category: Megaman (Main Series), Sonic the Hedgehog - Fandom
Genre: Anger, Angst, Artificial Intelligence, Crossover, Deception, Destruction, Dimension Travel, Frustration, Hunting, Robots, Tricksters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-09-14
Updated: 2011-05-13
Packaged: 2017-10-17 05:04:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/173195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragodonv2/pseuds/Dragodonv2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the space between dimensions, Dr. Albert Wily and Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, plan the take over of their opposite's dimension, both have a grand army, and a dastardly plan. Can Sonic or Megaman Stop them? Newly updated content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge to Invasion

In a space between dimensions, the two super geniuses sat at a table made entirely of data, a stored frame, and a texture file repeated over its surface.  There were other figures in the room, each in great numbers and all mechanical.  Behind the short, thin man with the receding white hair and a white lab coat were a slew of figures, who for the most part, were all different, with different decoration and design of their gleaming and almost gaudy armor, but all had given up one of their hands for their weapon.  The three standing closest to the human were as such; a hulking behemoth of yellow, red and black that could have killed any man by picking him up and crushing him in his powerful servo-powered hands, a short but resilient white and pink robot that had a strange protrusion on his head not unlike a pair of scissors, and a jet black and striped yellow one that could have been human if not for the fact his armor was welded on rather than placed on.  The lab coated human stared across the artificial table at his counterpart, skull-emblazoned purple tie hanging over the solid information table. 

 

His new friend was almost the exact opposite.  He towered over a belly that seemed almost stuffed into the chest-high jumpsuit and almost hidden by the relatively short red waistcoat that only reached the waist in back.  He stared from behind shining blue goggles over a severely pointed nose that rested above a very bushy brown mustache.  This man stood in front of a robot army that was very similar to the shorter man’s, but almost all the robots were the same, short, red and round, and almost all bore a resemblance to their master.  All except for another three robots, and just like the opposite army, the three closest to the man were more unique.  The first two looked very similar to each other; both were very simple humanoid robots that had capsule-like heads and spindly thin arms and legs.  But the third was the most unique figure of either group, for it was not humanoid, but based off a hedgehog, and this particular robot could not speak, but made itself understood, without any emotions or thought other than to serve the will of the taller human.

 

 

            “And so that’s what I’ve tried, and that’s why I think we can help each other” concluded the White lab coated man, flourishing his digital documents on the table. 

 

            “I see” replied the other, who had listened very intently to the other’s proclamation.  “I think that might work too, but even if we defeat our respective blue enemies, we need to think up plans for the aftermath, I don’t really want to govern a world of robots I haven’t built, and I don’t think you want to  dominate human populations that are not totally dependent on robots”. 

 

            The skull-obsessed man considered his self-absorbed partner in crime thoughtfully.  “Then Ivo, we should make a plan, I have a few ideas that may interest you” continued the man in the white coat. 

 

            “Fire away Albert, I have all day” said Ivo, and indeed they talked for much longer than a day, speaking and arguing long into the night and well into the next week, planning more with each other than they had done their entire lives.  For they had each other’s opinions and knowledge to contend with, and this improved their plans greatly.

 

 

            Finally reaching a conclusion, they copied each other’s files into their respective portable data devices, and began instructing the robots at their command.  The two portals reopened, and each army crossed each other back and forth, carrying machines, various provisions, and random tidbits from one dimension to another.  The red and yellow robot from Albert’s army had done the majority of the work, for he was one of the strongest ones there.  After the transfer, the two robotics experts shook hands and departed for the portal opposite to the one each came in.  The respective robot armies filed after their masters, passing in silent ranks across the digital space distortion.


	2. Sonic, Meet Dr. Albert Wily

Tails was flying his newest invention, Knuckles was guarding the Master Emerald, Amy, Cream, the Gizoid Emerl, and Cream’s mother Vanilla were out spending a day out in the city, and Sonic the Hedgehog sat atop a low mountain along the Emerald Coast, not far from his house or Central City.  He lay in a patch of beautiful flowers, one of his favorite plants on Earth, and savoring the cool wind as it played through his quills.  He was in his favorite place, among nature and life, alone and recovering from a satisfying run around the low range, contemplating the still low sun over the horizon.  Tails had remarked that this was one of the few weeks Dr. Eggman had not launched an attack to take over the human race, and that they should all enjoy it.  Sonic was, and he hoped his friends were too. 

 

He sighed, and lay still farther into the pink and white flowers, breathing in their scent and letting his mind wander.  Then he sat up abruptly as some of the flowers moved in a strange way… against the wind.  He shot to his feet, and jump-tackled the figure posing as a patch of flowers.  “OOF!  Dang it!” shouted the figure as he hit the ground, and his skin altered and shifted from soft pink to brilliant purple “I was so close that time!”  Shouted Espio the Chameleon as he rolled away from the laughing blue hedgehog.  “Espio, you might be a ninja, but I’m Sonic the Hedgehog, and don’t you forget it!” replied Sonic as he continued to laugh gently.  “Okay, you got me” said Espio gravely as he pushed himself to his feet “but I have some news.”  He trotted over to the hedgehog’s side and sat down in a meditative pose, calming and ordering his thoughts.  “What’s up Espio? Did Vector assign you guys to come scare me to death or did you get some sort of job that you need my help?” inquired the still laughing Sonic.  “Okay, here’s the situation, and I tell you, every word is true, and I only tried to have some fun scaring you to lighten the mood, and to keep you calm until the end, so you don’t go rushing off”  Sonic agreed that he’d try to keep his seat.

 

 

            Espio was walking down the main street of Central City early in the morning at around 2:00, the late-nighters either greeting him or ignoring him, since by this time Mobians were almost a common sight on these streets.  Tourists and young children he could handle though, because Espio liked children, and tourists he could either escape from or shoo them away with his autograph.  He was going shopping, for what that was worth, and he had been tasked by Vector as the official “Swiss-roll gatherer” a fancy title to basically say “Vector’s constant servant of delicious chocolate treats”.  He sighed, lost in contemplation of the streets, thinking about how many rolls he could buy without using too much money, when suddenly he found himself strayed off the main street, not even remembering coming this way, when a spinning, flashing saw blade whizzed from an almost unseen shadow.  The assault was lightning fast, and even with Espio’s well honed ninja abilities and reflexes, was extremely hard to dodge without prior preparation.  Another sharp metal blade came flying toward the ninja, this one coming close to ripping the chameleon’s arms in half.  Then he froze in a midair backflip, and was pummeled with energy blasts that wracked his nervous system, not killing shots he realized, but something resembling and electro-magnetic pulse, and would therefore only stun him.  The frozen effect wore off, and Espio collapsed to the ground, nerve centers spasming.  The two figures clumped away in what appeared to be shiny metal boots, flashing the chameleon with small device that seemed to be X-raying Espio, and the two figures disappeared into the night.  Upon recovery, Espio noted the time as 4:10.

 

 

 

            Sonic sat and stared at the Tam Chaotix member, eyes much larger than usual.  He would have immediately dismissed the story if he knew that Espio was deadly serious, for the Chameleon had always been honest.  “Who were those guys you think?” asked Sonic as he stared at the now fully risen sun.  “No one I knew, and they didn’t look like something Eggman would build or hire, because they looked human”.  “Hm” was all Sonic had to say, he was contemplating the possibility Eggman was using some creativity in his new robot designs.  “Listen Sonic, I’ve gotta go, I need to report this to Vector, we will attempt to figure out the origin of these strange things, call me and the rest of Chaotix if you encounter these guys, whatever they are”.  And with that, Espio was off, disappearing into the noontime glare.  Sonic rushed back to his house, intending to call up every one of his friends and warn them to be on the lookout.

 

 

            It was perfect, Dr. Wily was no longer a hunted criminal, a marked mastermind of evil, he was simply Mr. Albert Wily, and no one looked twice at him as he examined the layout, technology level, and military strength of his first target.  He noted that those ridiculous G.U.N solders were posted almost everywhere.  They had stations along every street, and patrols of their simple robots and humans alike were flying along every skylane.  His eyes tracked several robots that were sailing through the skies, and was sure that takeover would be swift, but he would enlist some help nonetheless.  “ _Doctor_ ” said a mechanical voice in the shadows “ _we have done as you instructed, they know._ ”  The doctor smiled as he went back to his base, and began working on an E-mail to a certain Blue hedgehog.

 

 

 

            Sonic was taking a run, he needed to think, the E-mail could be just another trap by Eggman, or perhaps this new threat could be dealt with easily.  Sonic had received an E-mail that went something like this. 

 

 

 _To Sonic the hedgehog, aka: Blue Blur, Fastest Thing Alive exc._

 _My name is Dr. Albert Wily, and I think you’re having some robot trouble.  I can help; I am an expert on robot technology and combat.  I think you could use my help, because I know lots about these robots, (they are the Robot Master series for your information).  I also know their strengths and weaknesses, and I am sure we can help each other._

 

 

Sonic was rushing at full speed towards the coordinates this Albert Wily had sent him.  And it appeared over the horizon as he drew closer, and he could just barely discern the floating castle, when he noticed the water.  His speed shoes ground into the concrete, attempting not to fall into the sea, Sonic stopped just barely in time.  An amplified voice sounded from the hovering collection of turrets, towers and skulls, “ _Hello Sonic, thank you for being so timely_ ” Sonic glared up at the floating palace of skulls, and began to tap his foot.  “ _Ah, yes_ ” said the voice, and the platform began to lower.

 

 “Hello Sonic, I’m Dr. Wily” said the cheerful man as he walked towards the blue mobian, arm extended.  “Nice to meet you Dr, I’m Sonic, but I think you know that”   replied the no less courteous hedgehog.  “Let’s go to my meeting room, we’ll be far more comfortable there” said Dr. Wily as he turned around in a perfect about face and walked back the way he came “I have your favorite: Chilidogs!”  Continued the still briskly trotting Dr.  “Great! But how’d you know I like chilidogs? Asked sonic, as he easily kept pace with the human.  “Oh Sonic! You of all people should know how many fan sites there are of you, and chilidogs appear to be the staple food in all of them!” laughed the robotics expert as he rounded the corner into a spacious lounge “we’re here!”  Sonic was quite impressed at the beauty and stylish furniture in the room, and an authentic chilidog cart resting in one corner, one Sonic serving of 8 chilidogs already served up.  He rushed over to the cart and began to gobble the chili dogs.  “Do you like those Sonic?” said a voice from the other room, and Dr. Wily came out, staring at Sonic, who was staring back and fourth now between the **two** Dr. Wilys in the room. 

 

He spluttered on his 5th chilidog, and began to freak out when Dr. Wily #2 called to him.  “Got you didn’t I?” he laughed and held up a small remote, depressing a button which seemed to deactivate the very realistic synthetic human “I told you I was good at this!”  He laughed and laughed at the confused expression on Sonic’s face.  “I built this other me to deal with any unwelcome guests, (Not that you’re unwelcome) and also to do chores and runs errands for me.”  Sonic was recovering now, and began to laugh along.  “That was great Dr, but I thought you had some serious business to talk to me about” said Sonic as he sat down in one of the modern and well designed couches. 

 

“Yes, ahem.”  Said Dr. Wily as he sat opposite the hedgehog, giving him space to consume his chilidogs “I heard from a friend that your friend Espio got into a little fight with some strange-looking beings in an ally way in the city is that correct?” 

 

Sonic nodded and responded “He seemed to think they were robots, so they might be a new force from Eggman, you know him right?”

 

  “That fat bumbler from the news you keep destroying? Of course!” exclaimed the robotics genius.  “Actually I think we should talk about the Robot masters, I know lots about them” said Wily, sitting farther into his couch, “First, the two robots who attacked your friend Espio, that was Flash Man and Metal Man.” 

 

“Question” interrupted Sonic, “do all the robot masters names end with man?”

 

“Well, most of them, I can’t think of any exceptions at the moment” replied Dr. Wily as he thought about it “ _I guess I did make most of, if not all of their names end with man_ ” he continued inside his head. “But anyway, about Metal Man, he is made of a very high quality and strong metal, like all the robot masters, but he can shoot the even higher-quality and stronger metal blade, which is his weapon.” 

 

“Can I ask something else Dr.? Do all these robots only have one weapon?”

 

Dr. Wily thought about that, “again, most of them do, and yet there are some who can either use that weapon in creative ways, or use a series of melee attacks that can adapt depending on their environment, as they do possess a high level of artificial intelligence, even if they seem a bit slow by our standards.” 

 

“Do they ever, you know, BSOD?”  The Dr. stared at Sonic with a blank look “Blue Screen Of Death?” Sonic offered

 

“Oh…oh dear AH HA HA HA HA HAAaaa! Oh Sonic, in my time, that company Microsoft is outlawed, and everybody uses a new operating system, invented by a colleague of mine by the name of Dr. Light, Light-erating system they called it” 

 

“Wow, do you still keep in touch with this guy?  It sounds like he could loan you money or something” chuckled Sonic. 

 

“No, unfortunately we had a falling out, he disagreed on the purpose of robotics, and wanted to use them as a series of war machines, and attempted to market a robotic warrior, so he made Protoman.” 

 

“Protoman?” puzzled sonic “what went wrong?” 

 

“Protoman seems to have had too much personality, and denied his purpose dictated to him by Dr. Light, and so decided to go off on his own, Dr. Light was then able to figure out the problem, and began working on a new project, Megaman.  This was supposed to be _the_ robot, the warrior machine that would give Dr. Light the key to the perfect robot warrior.  I got scared, and decided enough was enough, I attempted to reprogram an older project we had been working on, robots designed to be domestic servants, Guts man, Bomb man, Fire man, Ice man, Elec man, and Cut man, all were previously designed to assist human workers in such tasks as construction and exploration.” 

 

“So did you win?” asked Sonic, sitting transfixed at the man seated across from him. 

 

“No, again, it seemed Dr. Light’s greed and genious won, Megaman was far too strong for even all six of our robot masters, so I went into hiding, and Light took over the world by marketing these kinds of assistant robots, he also rebuilt a few of the first Robot masters, and built many others by himself” 

 

 “So, how many of them did he make?” asked Sonic. 

 

“Well, he made… about… 72 of them, all with different powers, and that’s not to mention that he also not only rebuilt 3 of the original robot masters, but reprogrammed a creation of mine I made to destroy Megaman, but that failed as well.  In essence Sonic, if you can beat Megaman, you can beat all the other robots.” 

 

Sonic sprang up, and began to shake the Dr.’s hand vigorously “thanks for the info Dr. I’ll try to put it to good use” Said Sonic as he began to exit the lounge with some chilidogs. 

 

“Yes, and remember, the come to me if you need to know anything else about robots” responded the dr. smiling his best innocent smile.


	3. Eggman's Takeover of Monsteropolis

Dr. Eggman was having a wonderful time.  He had taken the city by storm, literally.  An artificial storm created on the underside of the Egg Fleet’s flagship had crippled the city of Monsteropolis.  Power stations were dead, robots were fried, and the population of humans was quickly coming to fear this threat of such massive proportions as to cover the sky with atmospheric fighter robots and capitol ships alike.  Eggman’s turrets fire again and again, using pure destructive force against the massive robot army assaulting him.  Their cannons fired as well, but were designed to penetrate less powerful energy shields than he was sporting on even his fighters.  The power of the Chaos Emeralds was far greater than any sort of conventional weapon that they could array against him. 

 

Missiles and lasers spattered and blew up on the surface of his secondary shield, the one covering his primary shield, and for all the good it did them, they ought to be throwing stones at the massive flagship.  He responded with his own barrage of lasers, tearing into the miles-high road and annihilated the majority of the robotic forces that continued to oppose his fleet.  Eggman decided he was bored at merely firing down on the opposing army; it was time to give them a little challenge.  His hangar doors opened, and half his fighter force, 2500 robots, swarmed from the bay, raining precisely targeted laser fire on the beleaguered army, and all units began to retreat, but only to find Eggman’s infantry halting their approach.  Dr. Ivo Robotnik, alias Eggman, had conquered Monsteropolis, the center of robotics technology in this version of Earth, and could use the full resources of knowledge and power arrayed here to conquer this entire planet.

 

 

            “So Shadow, what do you think?” Eggman asked the black and red hedgehog sitting behind him. 

 

 

“Hmm” Eggman completely ignored the pouting of the ultimate life form, and instead considered his words.  “Perhaps I shall… pull them back to give them some more fighting spirit… this might just get interesting, thank you Shadow.” 

“Hmm…” was all Shadow had to say on the subject, for he was deeply troubled, it seemed that he had lost his memory (again for us), and that the Dr. was the grandson of his creator, but beyond that the Dr. never said much, only ordered Shadow around.

 

Eggman had finished blaring his orders to his robots, and was observing how the battle was turning out, when an alarm began to beep quietly, shutting it off, Dr. Eggman turned again to Shadow.  “Shadow, it’s time” he said, Shadow was confused, and looked skeptically at his master and waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t, only got up from his chair and beckoned Shadow to come with him.  Shadow immediately rose to follow.

 

 

            They walked along the brightly lit corridors, Shadow turning occasionally as he walked to look at Eggman, but he never was able to catch the Dr’s spectacled eyes.  They walked through a variety of doors that hid a room that Eggman told Shadow was off-limits.  Shadow had thought it was the chaos emerald-powered generator, but it wasn’t.  It was a room with a little operating table the Dr. sometimes used to fix or create key robots or new designs, there was no one on it at present, and the room seemed bare of tools or contraptions.  He stood near the closing blast door, waiting for the Dr’s instructions.  “Lie down on the Table Shadow; it’s time to get your memory back to good working order” 

 

“What?!” Shadow thought he had misheard, get his memory back?  “Yes Dr.” said Shadow quickly as he walked briskly forward, but was held up by Eggman. 

 

“On one condition…” 

 

“Yes Dr, anything!” replied Shadow with a little plea in his voice that was quite unlike him. 

 

“Whatever you may remember, I need you for this mission, it’s crucial that I get your help just this once, I intentionally wiped your memory to keep you safe until we got here.”  Shadow was huffed that the Dr had deceived him, but there were so many questions he needed his memory for, he couldn’t refuse, he got up onto the table.  Immediately the table was raised up and thick leather straps lightly bound his wrists and ankles, and a large, archaic-looking machine extricated itself from the floor, and attached itself to the black quills on Shadow’s head.  Shadow wasn’t worried, only excited, he would finally be able to recall his past life, and he was confident he could take it.  As those readers who have recovered from a memory wipe will know, we can’t handle it.  After living his life a second time, Shadow was back to his bitter and infinitely dark and rebellious self,

 

“What is it you wish me to do Dr” he said in a cool voice despite his anger at the portly man. 

 

“There is a robot in this dimension by the name of Protoman, here is his picture, he’s red, and has both a blue and black counterpart, don’t get them mixed up and don’t get them on the same side”. 

 

“Destroy them all?” asked Shadow

 

“Yes, if you can manage it, but be careful, they’re all powerful in their own way.”

 

“Any particular stats or special abilities I should know about?” asked Shadow

 

“No, they all possess the same weaponry, but the red one can shoot two bolts at a time,  charge up a huge blast and has a shield, the black one can rapid fire, and the blue one both fire 3-4 shots and charge, and has the most experience.”

 

“Is that all?” asked Shadow sarcastically.

 

“Yes, now get going, the robots and ships in my command are only a diversion to bring out these dangerous enemies, and be sure not to harm my robots!”

 

            Shadow remembered the words from his past vendetta to discover clues to his **other** memory loss, like a looped recording that played whenever a robot shot at him.  He charged out the open hangar doors and on to the street 20 miles below, landing lightly and looking around.  It was a very advanced city, which even had its own cadre of flying cars, which Shadow could use.  He hopped up the walls of two tightly packed buildings and threw himself onto the skylanes, grabbing onto a robotically controlled delivery truck.  After a few minutes flight, he jumped off the oblivious robot, and sailed towards the street.  He landed close to where the fighting was going on, and saw the portly orange Eggman robots retreating from the ground forces of Monsteropolis.

 

 

            Rounding the corner, he spotted the collection of human and robotic solders pressing their allowed advantage, not even realizing they were headed for a trap.  Shadow sighed and pulled out the Green Chaos Emerald that had been given to him by the Dr, and repeated the words that came most naturally to him.

 

“CHAOS CONTROL **!”**

            He teleported into the very heart of the more pitiful of the robot armies and began to wreak havoc.  He tore through a large portion with chaos blast, blasted the rest with chaos spear, and tore through the ranks with the bodies of human and robot alike flying behind him.

“ _Shadow!_ ” a voice called to him through the tiny earbud “ _your first target has been detected, head out the main east road into the countryside, he’s flitting among the hills there_ ”

 

            “Acknowledged Dr.” Said Shadow as he turned from the destruction he had wrought and bolted toward his intended target, Shadow was running the information through is head again, would it be the black one, the red one, or the blue one?  Using the limited information the Dr. had given him, he was developing battle strategies for tackling each of the supposed ultra powerful robots, but he was confident.  “I’ve taken on Sonic, Black doom, and a time god, what difference could these robots make?” Shadow reminded himself.  He skated along nearly abandoned streets above dark chasms, flashing by medical vessels that he ignored, and military vessels that he destroyed.

 

 

            The street abruptly began to slope downward; Shadow looked back and saw that the main street sloped away from a vast wall that apparently held the lower parts of the city.  He shrugged and continued on, skating down the massive Ramp until it was parallel with the ground, and he could see nothing but bright green grasslands for a long way, until he spotted the low hills the Dr. had described.  Turning off the road, he tore toward the hills, scanning for a humanoid form. 

 

A flash of red energy, a streak toward the sky, “ _Chaos Control?_ ” he thought.  Then abruptly, his path was held up by a large white object with a black stripe in its center.  He jumped over it, leaping 15 feet in the air and front flipping to view the rear of this strange object, but it was gone.  Then he noticed a figure standing on a nearby hill, a large black visor staring at him from behind the white thing “ _a shield_ ” Shadow recognized it.  The red robot turned towards Shadow, white and red helmet blazing in the noontime glare.   The robot’s yellow scarf flapped in the breeze as he and Shadow faced each other across the distance between hills.  Shadow pulled out his chaos emerald as the Robot activated his weapon and both combatants charged forward and met in midair with a flurry of blows and exchanges of energy.


	4. Bank Robbery

Back in Sonic’s world, Dr. Wily was taking yet another stroll around Central City.  The sun shone on streets lined with buildings made of glass and a populous made of ignorant fools. He chuckled to himself as he again noticed the G.U.N solders standing around, looking quite bored with the lack of military action, and sipping their preferred drinks as they laughed and talked.  Then suddenly, Wily’s communicator buzzed, and he turned into a side alley to receive it.  He talked with the person on the other side of the communication, and ended the call with a nod and a confirmation.  Turning back to his patrol, he smiled evilly to himself, and braced himself for the scream that was sure to erupt from the crowd around him.  The G.U.N solders looked less relaxed now, and were quietly shouting into their own radios, taking up defensive positions and sending squads of robots towards the banking district.  Dr. Wily smiled again and decided to take a stroll in that direction.

 

 

            “ _Confirmed, it appears to be another attack by Eggman!_ ”  The radio blared, and all the solders began to take up their machine guns, grenade launchers and ballistic shields.  Sonic, who happened to be walking by one of the guard stations, questioned one of the troops stationed there, and confirmed that Eggman was attacking the First National Bank.  Coming down the street, Sonic gasped at the massive _thing_ that was tearing apart the grey marble building.  It was bright orange, like all of the good Dr.’s inventions, but far different from his previous designs.  It bore no resemblance to him, no pointed nose, no pot belly, indeed, it was a wonder that he had built it. 

 

It turned toward him, and the face, so drastically different from his previous designs; it had a square jaw, a button nose, and what appeared to be a skullcap with large bolts to either side.  Its massive fists also had rather large spikes, and it was using this feature to pummel the stone to dust with its incredible arm strength.  But it now turned its attention to the G.U.N Beetle robots flying about its head, and the solders firing laser rifles, machine guns and grenades at it.  It took up its big hands and swung them downward, into the street.  The massive shockwave sent Sonic flying, and even the heavily laden humans stumbled back as sections of the road tore themselves up and into the air, blasting apart robots in the air that simply could not dodge such large chunks of concrete.

 

 

            Dr. Wily was only just stopping himself from laughing his insane happy laugh, it was just too easy.  The robot he had sent to steal that jewel Eggman had wanted was Gamma.  Not Eggman’s own E-102 Gamma, but the massive peacekeeping robot Dr. Wily had turned into the ultimate war machine, or at least for the time.  Originally blue and red, he had repainted the colossal robot on Eggman’s direction, and had the robot being piloted by a robotic copy of Eggman, just to keep Sonic’s suspicions away from Wily. 

 

Wily watched as Sonic engaged the titan of destruction.  Predictably, when Gamma attempted to smash his massive fist into the hedgehog, Sonic merely back flipped out of the way and began to run up the assaulting arm.  Gamma’s programming responded by attempting to smash Sonic against its shoulder, but only succeeded in putting a large dent in its own armor.  Wily watched in amusement as Sonic bounced all around the armored head, attempting to strike the weak point and finish the battle quickly.  But Dr. Wily had learned from last time that the head was always the weak point, and so had armored the head in such a way that Sonic could not possibly break through. 

 

But… that flash… a crack?  The head exploded, revealing the damaged and useless Eggman copy.  Sonic and Wily watched as Gamma crumpled to the streets, crushing one of the nearby houses.  G.U.N came about an hour later to clean up the mess, and to hand over… a jewel!  They presented a glowing bright blue gem to Sonic that had been fished out of the wreckage of the bank!

 

           

            Sonic smiled and thanked the G.U.N commander, reassuring him again that he could keep the Chaos Emerald safe until such time as the bank could be rebuilt.  Sonic walked away, tucking the Emerald inside his quills for safe keeping, and was about to run down the street to look for more trouble, but was halted by Dr. Wily.  “Hi Dr!” Said Sonic “nice to see you, did you see that robot?”

 

“I did Sonic, and wouldn’t you know it, I was going to make a withdrawal from the bank, but I guess I’ll have to make do” Dr. Wily smiled “Say, what was that gem the solders gave to you?”

 

“This?” inquired Sonic, pulling out the jewel “It’s a Chaos Emerald, a jewel that gives power to anyone who possesses it, and there are 7 of them, along with something called the Master Emerald, which my friend Knuckles guards”

 

“Could I hold it perhaps?” asked Dr. Wily hopefully

 

“Sure” replied Sonic, passing the emerald to Dr. Wily “But only Mobians can really use its power.”

 

Dr. Wily wasn’t listening, but cradling the emerald greedily and savoring the power he felt emanating from it “ _No wonder Ivo wants these”_ he thought, passing the emerald back to Sonic and thanking him for saving the day.

 

 

Back at his base, deep in thought, Dr. Wily pulled out the radar Dr. Eggman had given him, and pondering as to why it only showed 3 of the 7 glowing dots of chaos emeralds and one brilliant spot of green on the little world map.


	5. The Death of Megaman

            The answer to that of course, was that Dr. Eggman had taken 4 of the 7 Chaos emeralds into the world of Megaman with him, leaving just 3 emeralds and the Master Emerald.  And one of these was being held by his temporary dark assassin.

 

            Shadow was generally unshakeable, no ordinary being could catch him off guard, and no single act impressed him for long.  But this machine, more difficult to defeat than anything he had previously faced, but only by a slight amount.  Shadow used his homing attack at first, but the shield merely rebuffed him.  A chaos blast, however, quickly tore the shield away from the hand that then morphed into a hole, from which concentrated plasma rounds spewed.  Upon impact, Shadow found the plasma bolts to be quite tolerable owing to his supply of rings.  He Teleported away using Chaos Control, ending up behind the robot and homing attacked it right between the shoulder plates.  The robot fell face first, but was far from beaten.  **It** then teleported away in a burst of red energy, an unexpected ability.  Shadow anticipated that the robot would try the same trick, so he teleported to the nearest hill.  He smiled as the robot reappeared and fired a huge blast of uncontrolled energy, completely decimating the ground were Shadow had been.  The helmet tilted back in surprise, then whirled around just as it was treated to a Chaos spear to its face.  The smoking hole that had once been a pair of dark sunglasses, delicate optical sensors, and a resilient CPU/Brain, crashed to the ground along with the rest of its body. 

 

“All too easy” said Shadow to the empty hills.  Reaching up to his ear to contact Eggman, he noticed that life still remained in the crushed and beaten robot.  Shadow turned on the communicator, and Eggman answered “Dr, I have destroyed the first target, proceeding to second target” said Shadow, the heel of his shoe coming down and crushing the helmeted head, dispatching the robot.

 

 

            _“Acknowledged Shadow”_ Eggman responded, _“your next target will have to be in a small cottage a few miles north of your position, there will be a few others there”_

“Yes Dr, Shadow out” cutting off the transmission, Shadow stared up at the sky, searching for the North Star.  Star…space…the ARK, memories flooded from just that thought, Shadow knew that in this world there was no chance the ARK was here.  Locating the proper body in the sky, he shot off into the darkening night.

 

 

            “But Dr Light!” shouted Megaman into his father’s ear “the city is under attack!”

 

Dr. Thomas Light fidgeted with his long white beard as he stared at the wide screen monitor, watching the report of the cataclysm that was this mysterious robot army.  The commander of this force, one Ivo Robotnik, had been very direct, at 3:00 on July 3rd of the year 20XX, all TV and internet had been shut down and had been replaced with the grinning countenance of Robotnik.  He had demanded that the city surrender with emphatic gestures of his long arms.  The city officials had responded by sending in the robot police, who had been immediately decimated.  The Dr. had then become extremely upset, and decided to level the city of Monsteropolis, rebuilding it into a city Robotnik called “Eggman land”.

           

            “I know, Megaman” said Dr. Light, “but I can’t risk you or Roll in this venture, it was lucky we weren’t all in the city when he attacked!”

 

Megaman sighed, sitting back down in the chair and staring fixedly at the floor.  Auto, Dr. Light’s robot assistant, placed a comforting mandible on Megaman’s shoulder plate

 

“You’d minus well take off the armor Megaman, wearin’ it uses power, and I think you’d drain our stock of energy tanks” 

 

Megaman sighed again, pushing Auto’s hand away and walking to the door.  He stood outside the little cottage, staring up at the night sky, feeling at that moment, entirely helpless.  He brought his gaze down and noticed a bright yellow-orange light streaking down the nearest hill.  It was moving at incredible speed, and if Megaman’s telemetry system was correct, it was moving close to the speed of sound!  Suddenly as it drew nearer, it fired several bright yellow energy missiles at Megaman.  Giving them no time to hit their target, Megaman jumped left as the missiles hit the ground behind him, and activated his armor’s mega buster.  Coming out of the roll, buster armed, he looked around for his assailant.

 

“Looking for me?” said a deep and gravelly voice right behind Megaman.  Whirling to face this new opponent, he turned around and saw…nothing.  Suddenly an explosion in the region of his power core sent Megaman flying several feet towards the cottage, and Megaman was shut down.

 

“Megaman?” called Dr. Light from within the house, “MEGAMAN!” he exclaimed as he saw the crumpled heap of his robotic son lying on the doorstep.  He glanced around to see who the attacker was, and caught sight of a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him from the darkness.  The black shadow shot away on two beams of yellowish light.

 

Dr. Light brought the twisted heap of Megaman inside, ignoring the gasps, whines and even the synthesized tears of Roll.  He marched purposefully into the lab, Auto dutifully trailing behind him, and set Megaman down on the operating table.  He armed himself with the advanced tools and welding mask, then consulted his top secret plans of his sin’s construction.  He was going to not only fix his son, but make him better, faster, more ready to meet with this new threat that had attacked him.  He had the technology after all…


	6. Sonic vs the Robot Masters

“Oh crap” thought Sonic as he raced through the ruins of downtown Station Square, aware that he was being pursued by several robots.

 

            “ _SurendernowSonic, orIwilldestroyyou!_ ” yelled a dark pink robot with a yellow boomerang for a forehead.  This one was almost keeping up with Sonic, and firing yellow boomerangs similar to the one on its head. 

 

            Sonic rolled into a spin dash, rocketing off a piece of debris and shooting into the air.  But soon he was set a upon by a large orange and white robot with an enormous beak, who fired strange fan blade-like weapons that disrupted Sonic’s path through the air, and so instead of landing on top of the nearest building, he fell face first onto the crumbling street on the other side.  “ _Hello Sonic, prepare to die!_ ” Said a voice from overhead, Sonic sprang into a back flip and caught sight of a bright red robot with Golden bracelets covering both forearms.  The robot ejected several of these rings and flung them at Sonic, leaping into the air as he did so.  Sonic, unable to dodge, braced himself for impact, but found that the objects this robot was throwing at him were nothing more than Power Rings, so Sonic collected them. 

 

            The robot was disarmed, and Sonic spin-dashed through it and rolled on, intending to reach the flying castle of Dr. Wily, that had attacked an hour before.  Sonic noticed several weapon emplacements on the castle that he had not noticed before.  Lasers leveled buildings and bombs cleaned the shattered streets of rubble.  Then Sonic was set upon by the 6 remaining robots.  Ring man was dead, but Tengu Man, Metal Man, Flash Man, Quick Man, Guts Man, and Grenade Man remained.  They all stood on the president’s former governmental home and business center.

 

 

“ _yourtoolateSonic!_ ” said Quick Man

 

 “He’s right Sonic, Master Wily will only send more of us, and eventually overwhelm you!” continued Metal Man, pulling out one of his metal blades.

 

Sonic scoffed “Did you say something? I’ve beaten so many robots; your speeches about the futility of my actions all sound the same.”

 

Despite being made of metal, Metal Man’s face grew hot with anger. 

 

“ _Fine, Prepare to die!_ ” yelled grenade man, launching one of his skull-emblazoned bombs straight at the blue hedgehog.  Sonic, a bored expression on his face, jumped, grabbed the bomb, and flung it back mid-air with more force than it had come.  The bright yellow explosion blasted the robot twenty feet, but grenade man only picked himself up, laughing maniacally. 

“Time Stop Sonic” said Flash man “Very useful, wouldn’t you say?”  Sonic was battered, bruised, and burned, but he still stumbled to his feet. 

 

Suddenly all the robots looked up, and were blown over the edge of the building by several missiles.  The buzzing of the familiar propeller props calmed Sonic, and he collapsed to the concrete with relief.  Tails landed the Tornado 2 on the white roof and Knuckles touched down gently next to it.  Both grabbed the blue hedgehog and carried him into the back seat of the equally blue biplane.  Sonic watched blearily as Tails engaged the rocket engines and shot off the roof just in time, as Grenade Man blew their erstwhile landing strip to smithereens.  Knuckles moved to engage the robots, punching metal man so hard it flew into flash man.  Then the battle was concealed by the billowing smoke, but the red Echidna came back, pursued by several metal blades and a grenade, all of which were reflected back along their vectors.

 

When they landed at Tails’ workshop near the mystic ruins, Knuckles picked up the limp body of Sonic while Tails went to unlock the door.  Inside, Knuckles placed Sonic on what appeared to the hedgehog to be a bright green circular table.  Sonic groaned as an ice pack was applied to his forehead and left arm.  “Feeling any better Sonic?” asked Tails

 

“Yeah…yeah I’m alright, thanks Tails.” Sonic responded wearily

 

“What were you thinking?” demanded Knuckles “those things could have killed you! They’re not Eggman’s robots you know!”

 

“Yeah, well, I know that now right?” said Sonic, who was pondering the sudden feeling of power surging through him, so he peered more closely at the table on which he rested.  “The Master Emerald!?” he exclaimed

 

“Yup” replied Knuckles “It had to be moved, and besides, it healed you up ok.”

 

“Yeah, well” Sonic was slightly curious “What about Angel Island?”

 

“It...” Knuckles paused “It’ll just have to fall, it’s endured a few crashes before.”

 

Sonic got up, and pulled the blue Chaos Emerald from his quills.  “We’re probably going to have to find the chaos emeralds before Wily does”

 

            “Who?” Asked Tails

 

            Sonic caught the reason for his best friend’s confusion “He’s the one who’s most likely attacking Central City, I got to know him a little while ago”  He explained his short-lived relationship with the deranged mad scientist.

 

            “You were FRIENDS with this madman?” exclaimed Knuckles “Why didn’t you put the fact he makes robots together with the robot attacks?”

 

            “He…had…chilidogs” Said Sonic defensively

 

Both friends rolled their eyes; it was almost typical of Sonic.  Deciding not to waste any more time, the three heroes took the Tornado 2 and Sonic’s Chaos Emerald, and went out to find the rest of the emeralds.

 

 

            Dr. Albert Wily was confused to no end.  So he had contacted his counterpart to convey them. 

 

            “I don’t get it Ivo, the radar you gave me only shows three of those Chaos Emeralds, and that Master emerald, I thought you said there were 7 emeralds.”

 

            “I did” replied Dr. Robotnik, who strangely enough was wearing a construction helmet “I have the other 4, don’t worry, but I need you to send me any Emeralds you find.”

 

            “Alright, I just wanted t confirm with you before proceeding.  Central City is mine, and I’m just going to finish up destroying Sonic so I can implement the final stage of the plan.” Responded Dr. Wily in relief, and cut the transmission.  Hans clasped and rubbing evilly, Dr. Wily turned to his small army of robots still onboard the castle.  “Find Sonic, destroy him, then report immediately to me when you do”

 

            An eerie synchronized response sounded through the small hangar bay “YES MASTER WILY” and all the robots clumped away towards the boarding ramp, followed by an army of mettools and other small enemies, soon the patrols would locate Sonic, then destroy him.  Dr. Wily laughed…and…laughed…and laughed.


	7. Bass and Shadow Face Off

            Back on the flagship of Dr. Eggman, Shadow was waiting for the Dr. to find his last target.  The Dr. was on the surface, now a blackened and cratered plain of ashes.  The assault had been quite successful, all resistance crushed, everything destroyed, and the human population roboticized, transformed into a robotic shell of their former selves.  Such mindless slaves were the major labor force in the building of Eggman Land, the city to replace this Monsteropolis.  Shadow was staring down at the desolation, brooding about his current mission.  But then his communicator buzzed with an alarm tone, almost making him jump.

 

            “ **SHADOW!** ” screamed a clearly frantic Eggman “WE”RE UNDER ATTACK! GET DOWN TO ( **BOOOOM!!!!** )…CONSTRUCTION SITE 2, **NOW**!”  Shadow, holding the earbud at arm’s length, acknowledged calmly, and rose to go.  Rushing out the nearest airlock, Shadow plummeted 500 feet before landing in construction site…846.

 

 

            Shadow groaned, rushing from one site to another, attempting to recall how these things were laid out.  He couldn’t, but he did remember what was being constructed at construction site 2 “ _main robot factory_ ” he thought to himself.  The massive partially constructed grey block that loomed over the horizon looked peaceful on the outside, so the attack must be inside.  He was at the foot of the main gates in seconds, and it became painfully obvious that the attack was indeed on the inside.  Shadow walked straight through the partially melted and unhinged doors to find utter chaos.  Orange robots ran toward the center of the factory, guns blazing away at the attacker, only for the shining black and yellow robot to dodge and use its rapidly pulsing arm cannon to raze the ground, instantly destroying the columns of robots that opposed him.

 

 

            After completing the last batch of robots, the figure started walking towards Shadow.  “And you are?” he questioned in a polite tone, leveling his buster as he did. 

 

Funny, neither of the other robots had spoken to him before.  Balling his hand into a fist, Shadow replied in a ringing voice “I am Shadow the Hedgehog, the **Ultimate** life form, and you are my last target”

 

The robot laughed “Perhaps, I am Bass, the **Strongest** robot ever created.  And I think you won’t even be able to touch me.” Activating his buster, he fired a barrage of plasma energy straight at Shadow’s face.

 

“Humph, perhaps you’re not as strong as you think” said a calm voice behind Bass.  Bass was in the process of turning around, when he was blasted forward, flying toward a ruined robot assembly unit.  The punch surprised him, but still he whirled around in midair and aimed again, but just then his back took another crushing blow, sending him straight **up**.  Again trying to compensate, he worked through a system reset that took almost a whole nanosecond, but that nanosecond wasn’t quite fast enough, as his stomach area took yet another direct hit, finally sending him crashing into the cracked concrete floor of the ruined facility.  As he slowly raised his head, Bass simultaneously sent out a coded signal and decided to just keep fighting until he figured out just who or what had confronted him.  He fired the jets on his feet and air dashed toward the other black figure, but he was already gone.  Then suddenly to his right, a spinning black ball was rushing toward his face!  Bass dashed again, but the ball made a 90 degree turn in midair.  The impact very nearly smashed his faceplate, but luckily the turn had slowed down the attack.  Both combatants recovered and stood facing each other, and more eggman robots formed a tight ring around them.

 

“Face it android, I am stronger, faster, and will bring you down” called Shadow n a calm voice “And I’m not even trying”

 

But suddenly a whooshing noise sounded outside the door, and a section of the ring of robots blasted apart in a bright green blur.  Smiling smugly, Bass replied, “Neither was I”

 

The purple robot dog lunged at Shadow, who dodged, before leaping toward its master, leaping onto his back and going through a rapid transformation.  “Now Shadow the hedgehog, witness the power of my **TREBLE BOOST!** ” yelled Bass,  leaping up into the air and hovering there while firing triple blasts , leveling the rest of the robots and firing down at Shadow, who seemed to teleport from place to place with his speed to escape the blasts.  Then Bass stopped…Shadow stood in the center of their battlefield, chuckling to himself and working on something on his wrists.  The two shining gold bracelets he wore fell to the floor, and Bass’s sensors detected a massive surge of energy.  Analyzing the gold bracelets, Bass determined that the materiel was meant to absorb massive amounts of energy.  Shadow too, was hovering in midair, now laughing openly.

 

“I AM SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, THE ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!  NOBODY CAN DEFEAT ME, MUCH LESS YOU, NOW DIE ANDROID!”  And, withdrawing his chaos emerald, he shouted again “CHAOS, CONTROL!”

 

Bass was then pummeled, first being hit from one direction, then another, his armor snapping like thin wood under the barrage.  Treble, the loyal dog now at his back, took many blows too, his jets faltering after a particularly devastating punch.  Shadow, relentless, fired a cluster of chaos spears, and then kicked a still dodging Bass until he crashed to the ground…

 

Landing face first, Bass and Treble disengaged, Treble whined, staggered, and fell over.  Shadow, now wearing the smug smile and his power inhibitor rings, walked over to the crumpled forms of the two robots, towering over them.  “As you can see, I am the ultimate life form, and infinitely more powerful than **OOF!** ” he grunted as Treble leaped into him, driving him away from Bass and forcing him to drop his chaos emerald.

 

“TREBLE! NO!” Shouted Bass, only to watch his most loyal friend get ripped in half by the jaw.  Wasting no more time, Bass grabbed the Chaos emerald at his feet and blasted away, calling on all his strength and his bassnium powered core.  He did something he had never done before… he ran away.

 

Shadow was dashing after the black robot, it was imperative that he retrieve the chaos emerald.  But in a flash, the robot was gone.  Shadow stood and, holding his head high, he walked to a pile of debris that was guarded by several robots; he peered inside at the cowering man peeking back out at him, hard hat slightly askew.

 

“Mission failed Dr.” said Shadow, turning away again, he ran back to the flagship landing point and the chaos radar onboard, intending to track this damn robot across this whole planet.


	8. Chaos Emeralds and Wily

Chapter 7

 

 

After hours of searching, Sonic and friends had found three of the seven Chaos Emeralds, and several more allies to not only assist them in their search, but aid in a planned attack on Wily’s fortress.  G.U.N had been instrumental in the planned attack, and had also provided their remaining Mobian agent, Rouge the bat, and E-123 Omega the walking arsenal.  Both had been given a secondary mission to find Shadow, and then return to the hidden G.U.N fortress.  Also joining the group were the Babylon Rouges; Jet the hawk, Wave the swallow, and Storm the albatross and their Extreme Gear.  And not only team Rose: consisting of Amy, Cream, and Big, but also the Chaotix Detective agency; Vector the crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy the bee.  Now they all stood atop Red Mountain and the location of their last found Chaos Emerald, and all were staring at Knuckles, who was trying to concentrate. 

 

“It’s no use guys” he finally said “I just can’t sense any more Chaos Emeralds.”

He sat and tried to concentrate harder.

 

 “Tails?” Sonic said to his friend

 

“None on the radar either Sonic” replied the equally pensive yellow fox.

 

Everyone tried to think where they had seen chaos emeralds last, but they came up with nothing, having either searched there or it had moved in between times.  At the end of there brainstorming session, they decided it would be best to head back to the G.U.N fortress and launch the attack anyway.  Mounting their extreme gear, they shot off toward the fortress.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Wily was rather disappointed, from what the cameras inside the robot masters eyes were telling him, Sonic seemed to be massing some sort of little army of short colorful freaks like him.  Deactivation reports had been coming in for the last 8 hours, robot masters engaging, but never quite defeating the group.  They also seemed to have acquired hovering transports like bikes and boards, this new development would have to be stopped, but small patrols consisting of 4 robot masters and 8 metools each were not enough to stop the dozen or so beings.  Dr. Wily set about recalling all Robot Masters that were left and of the 72 or so that had been sent out, only 46 remained, a half patrol had survived, but Galaxy man and Crash man were still badly damaged.  At the foot of his castle, he saw his own android duplicate was operating the giant robot suit, and was satisfied that his small army should be able to repel any attack.  He needed only a few more hours anyway, then the plan he and Ivo had come up with would be complete.

 

He turned around in his swivel chair and observed the work of a cadre of labor drones putting the final touches on a massive, jet black cylinder.  Purple rings of light encircled it as red status indicators flashed on a relatively small control console.  Dr. Wily smiled to himself as he regarded too, a new set of three robots specifically designed to beat Sonic, “Sonic Killers” as he had dubbed them.  There was a thin, wiry robot with hologram projectors located at strategic points that Wily had decided to call Replica man, a broad-shouldered and bright green robot Wily called Emerald man, and a robot that didn’t really have a body, but occupied an entire room and was called Surprise man.  It was all based on both trickery and raw power, and if Robotnik’s information proved correct, then these were the perfect robots to kill Sonic.

 

 

The Mobian’s attack was lunched; energy beams and missiles were exchanged along with a variety of other unconventional weapons.  Napalm man as having a great time blowing up the little tanks, ironically with G.U.N painted on their sides in large white lettering.  He smashed and blew them up, having a grand time watching the little human bodies piled up.  But then, looking up from crushing a military jeep a large, mustard-yellow gloved fist smashed into his face at high velocity, crushing it instantly.  Storm the albatross nursed his bruised knuckles as he continued to balance on his Extreme Gear, the Type-S board.  He was a part of the “power” team, assembled of the strong of the Mobian group, and used as a distraction and to take out the majority of the robot masters, from his board, Storm noticed E-123 Omega blasting away at three more robots, reducing them to scrap and burning parts.  Also visible in the distance, was Knuckles the echidna, engaged in a furious wrestling match with a tough looking Guts man, Storm decided he’d better give Knuckles some help.  Rushing over, he aimed another punch at the robot’s square-jawed domed head whilst traveling at a boosted speed of 180 miles per hour.

 

 

The impact came roughly from Knuckles’ right, and as he gave the robot a devastating punch up into its armored chest, Storm’s punch was enough to send Guts man flying to his doom at the weapons of a G.U.N tank which blasted to the cracked armor of his chest.

 

“WE’VE STILL GOT A SCORE TO SETTLE MUTT!” yelled a genial Storm as he soared away to help a faltering G.U.N line.

 

“ANYTIME LUNKHEAD!” Knuckles yelled back, still in a friendly tone. “ _I really hope Sonic’s having better luck than we are, **he** probably didn’t have to get saved by one of the Babylon Idiots._ ” Knuckles thought.


	9. Within the Fortress

Chapter 8

 

 

Inside the floating skull castle, Sonic the Hedgehog and his team of infiltrators flew down the corridors, both literally and figuratively, as the speed team ran under the flapping wings and roaring extreme gear of the Mobians gifted with flight.  The team was meant, under Sonics’ direction, to take the control room and shut down the robot army. 

 

As they weaved through the corridors, any enemy, small or large, cannon mounted or highly mobile and spiky, the assault of the Mobians was unable to be stopped.  Metools and Sniper Joes alike fell before a varied range of attacks including homing attacks, kicks, punches and explosive devices, and perhaps the occasional blow of Wave’s overlarge wrench.  Passing through one chamber after another, they cleared long floors full of enemies, spikes, and no floor at all with help of the flight team.  And traps sprung several feet after the group had passed with the assistance of the speed team. 

 

Passing through all that, they then came upon a large chamber, dimly lit with an intricate pattern of pulsating yellow wires that wove between the square floor panels.  They all were tense as they tiptoed slowly into the vast chamber.  But then, Rouge exclaimed in shock and horror, she pointed into the pitch black in the distance “Shadow!” was her only comment as she then rushed toward were she pointed.  The rest were confused, but only for a moment, as they all remembered that Rouge’s sight could penetrate the Darkness much better than they could.  They too, rushed forward, reaching the prone figure of Shadow. 

 

He lay face down on the ground, vicious cuts and bruises covered him, and he only moaned a little as Rouge kneeled next to him, eyes full of concern.  “Shadow!” yelled Sonic “Come on buddy speak to us!”  The black hedgehog grunted something and stirred feebly, “What?” questioned Sonic “What was that?  Help me flip him over guys.”  He was cold as ice, but when Shadow rested on his quills, Sonic spoke again “Shadow, what happened?  What are you doing here?” he shook the ultimate life form carefully.  “ _Trap_ ” Shadow hissed quietly “What?” said Sonic again “Trap” was all Shadow could say before he was sucked into the floor by a dropping floor panel.

 

 

“No!  Shadow!”  Was all Sonic could say in turn, before the whole team was distracted from the event.  Missile racks, machine guns, laser turrets, and other deadly assortments of killing implements shot from what seemed to be every other floor panel, raining deadly projectiles and launching small enemies at high speeds from racks.  The hyper fast reactions of the Mobians allowed them to evade even this initial deluge with only minor injuries, but there was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, only more racks of small enemies and gun platforms to hide behind, and when it’s ammunition or supply of enemies had depleted, the panel raised still farther upward, revealing yet another instrument of death. 

 

It was hopeless, between dodging the constant fire, Sonic saw the giant illuminated eye of the giant machine, surely a weak point, but it gazed out from a ceiling hundreds of feet in the air, and even if Sonic were able to find the nearest wall, he doubted his friends would be able to survive long enough for him to run up it deactivate the machine.  But Jet the Hawk, Sonic’s rival in Extreme Gear racing, provided the answer, he threw Sonic’s board and a large stone bracelet to Sonic, who caught both and Saw Jet’s plan immediately.  Latching the Ark of the Cosmos onto his wrist, he mounted his board and shot for the ceiling,

 

 

The Plexiglas broke like thick paper, debris blasting first inward, and then falling out of the second hole as Sonic blasted out again.  Then Sonic used his gravity control to land on the ceiling and rocket toward an imprisoned Shadow hanging in a flying cage hovering close to the shattered husk of the eye.  He unlocked the cage using his extreme gear toolkit, and flew first down the nearest wall, then back onto the ground. 

 

Sonic also found to his relief, that everyone had survived, but there was no way anyone could go through such an onslaught without taking some damage.  Sonic ran to the side of Tails, his arm was being put into a sling by Wave who herself had singed feathers and a burn in her side.  Rouge was also nursing a twisted ankle and a hole or two in her left wing, while Jet had a concussion from being blasted off his board, and several bruised bones, not surprising considering his hollow skeleton.  Only Sonic, Wave, Amy, and Rouge were even marginally fit to go.  But still, even the injured of the party insisted on going, but only Shadow was selected to go as backup.

 

More traps, more enemies, and still more obstacles to overcome.  With a reduced team, the next half of the stage dragged on, one endless challenge after another.  But finally, they reached a vast antechamber, in the center of it a tall, black, cylindrical tower of pulsating purple and red light.  Sonic and company admired the sight as they hurriedly attempted to discern the door to the bridge.  But even after finding the door, they saw and felt it to be a completely indestructible metal.  A barking, amplified laugh sounded over the intercom, and a flying TV hovered 8 feet behind and above the group.  Sonic turned, “Well hello again Doctor, it’s been a long time” Said sonic with all the sarcasm he could muster. 

“HEEHEEHEEHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaaa!  Not too long enough for me to forget how foolish and easy to manipulate you were, deception and treachery Ivo said, and he was right!”  he laughed again,  “Now that I’ve got you right where I want you, I’ll destroy you with my last three, **ultimate** creations, first, meet Emerald man”  He gestured on the TV, and a figure leapt from atop the black cylinder, landing squarely between it and the Mobians.  “The other two you’ll just have to figure out yourself, have a nice rest of your short lives!”  He laughed one final time as the screen dissolved into static and Wily was lost from view.

 

The robot confronting the group was, to all appearances, a giant chaos emerald with arms, legs, and a domed head.  Despite being a robot, he looked very pleased with himself, standing with his angular chest flung out, legs spread in a bracing stance.  He then disappeared in a green flash. 

 

“What?” Rouge snapped out of her trance, she had been staring fixedly at the beautiful craftsmanship of the giant jewel, but now she stared all around like the rest of the Mobians.  Sonic received a swift kick in the back, blasting him 20 feet to slam against the black cylinder.  The rest of the team was already jumping out of the way, but Emerald Man had seized Amy by the leg and flung her into Rouge, who fell into Wave.  The three women where then just as suddenly split apart in mid air, having all been punched in opposite directions from the center figure of none other than Shadow! 

 

“Wily did say something about treachery.” Sonic grunted as he homing attacked the traitorous black hedgehog.  The image projected around replica man dissolved as he landed confidently and continued the witty banter

 

“Of a sort, organic, but master Wily did tell me to attack when you least expect it.” 

 

“At least the real Shadow wouldn’t do that!” Rouge shouted as she flew towards the offending robot, aiming a high kick at his head.  The thin and spindly Replica Man dodged the attack easily, and fired a hologram projector at her back.  It projected an image of a metool, and the false enemy clamped down on Rouge’s wings, bringing her back down hard the ground, then the hologram projector flew back to the robot that had fired it.

 

 

 

He slammed up against the opposite wall, creating a darkened hole roughly in the shape of an angry hedgehog, a VERY angry hedgehog.  He had three emeralds, not quite enough to gain a super form, but with that, plus his own frustration and conviction of saving his friends, his fur darkened to a distinct blackened purple.  Dark Super Sonic wrenched himself from the steel wall and marched purposefully toward the spindly Replica Man.  The frantic robot tried to run away, but Dark Super Sonic accelerated instantly to grab him by the head and crush his face into the opposite wall, flattening it instantly.  Dark Super Sonic then heard frantic tapping at a keyboard, and whipped around to see Dr. Wily typing furiously at the control console on top of the strange black cylinder. 

 

 **“WILY!”** yelled an enraged Sonic, leaping into the air to confront the madman.  Wily turned, pressing a last key, at once, a shockwave knocked down everything standing within a 1 mile radius, not including himself, and the cylinder split in half and began to rise.  Dr. Wily was laughing manically, savoring his victory at activating the, whatever it was.  In his confusion, Sonic had returned to normal and was now staring at the massive device.  It rose higher, and Dr. Wily’s crowing laughter resounded across the desert battlefield around his base, and the cylinder fired a massive shining red shield around half of Mobius, then snapped the planet in two.  Then the new half-planet began to disappear into red fragments of data, transferring itself to a massive digital space distortion.


	10. Chaos and the Machine

Chapter 9

 

 

Bass stared glumly at the ground of his secret hideout, close to the shop owned by the robotic swan Reggae.  He turned the chaos emerald slowly in his powerful white hand, contemplating the loss of his friend.  He was so depressed, he had not noticed that his core, despite it being active for several weeks since the attack, had not even depleted.  This interested Bass, it was certainly better than thinking about Treble.  Bass accessed the records of his power usage, and saw that his energy consumption had been reduced significantly since the battle.  Specifically, the battle that had won him the emerald.  He considered, and it had to have been the emerald empowering him, working in accord with his bassinium core.  He observed the emerald again, and then began to question the true combative ability of his black and red opponent.  He decided to try something, holding the emerald high, he accessed his teleportation guidance systems, and spoke “Chaos Control!”  He vanished and reappeared, without the use of his teleportation device.  Bass marveled at the jewel clutched in his hand, marveled at the limitless possibilities such a weapon… He stopped, thinking, he considered his weapon adapter system, a highly versatile unit in and of itself.  He lowered the emerald into his buster, already feeling the lines of code transferring the data of near unlimited power. 

 

When he recovered, he stood and looked at his buster, amazed at the power that one emerald contained. Eventually he noticed a system update… _You got…CHAOS BLAST_.  Bass smiled with satisfaction.

 

 

Shadow smiled with satisfaction, he had located the erstwhile emerald, and would soon leave to pursue it.  He got up and walked to the rear of the bridge, but was held up by a returning Dr. Eggman. 

 

“Ah, Shadow!” he boomed “Going to find that robot are you?”

 

“Yes Dr… then my mission will be complete.” Shadow replied in a gruff tone.

 

“Well then, allow me to give you a few things” replied Eggman

 

“What sort of things?”

Eggman handed Shadow another Chaos Emerald, then gestured behind him “Metal Sonic will also accompany you as backup” Both Metal and Shadow nodded to each other.  “Now OFF WITH YOU TWO!  GO GET MY EMERALD!!!”  Eggman’s final command was heard from a distance by the two hedgehog replicas, rocketing away down the corridor.

 

 

Shadow and Metal Sonic tore across the blackened landscape, blasting the Eggman robots and roboticized humans into the air.  Shadow, skating inches off the ground with his hyper friction resistant hover shoes, Metal beside him, achieving the same effect with his SXSU-401 turbo engine.  In unison, they locked arms and Shadow shouted “CHAOS CONTROL!!!”  The sound caught up with the space they had been several seconds later.

 

They appeared in the middle of a vast desert, still rocketing at supersonic speeds and beyond.  They both saw their destination, a massive cliff, with a single cave high above the flat plane of the dusty orange desert.  The only possible way to get up there was, of course, to wall jump.  If one was not moving at supersonic speeds that is.  Though it was a 90 degree difference from the ground, Shadow and Metal reached the vertex of the angle, then ascended the other segment as though they had merely turned a corner at 30 mph.

 

Bass heard the near subsonic hum of an approaching engine, and rose to confront whatever it might be powering.  Approaching the mouth of the cave entrance, he armed his ordinary bass buster and looked around for his targets.  Finding none in the distance, he looked straight down, and began to systematically rake the vertical face of his hideout, but the two billowing clouds of dust evaded the plasma rounds, veering off at slight angles in opposite directions.  Bass grunted, pulling back and lobbing a crudely fashioned grenade out the door.  He then leapt out after its detonation, blasting plasma in all directions.  A shining blue and black face then appeared right in front of Bass, bright red eyes shining as it grasped for Bass’s arm, the one with the chaos emerald.  But Bass couldn’t have that; he activated his weapon systems and armed his new Chaos Blast, not even knowing what it would do.  He fired, and the short blue robot confronting him an instant ago was engulfed in blazing red energy, and Bass accelerated far past that of the pull of gravity.

 

When he hit the ground, his core had been nearly depleted.  He just barely noticed a smoking wad of blackened parts crashing down at his left, then he shut down to recharge.

 

Shadow stood atop the cliff, preparing to jump down to assist Metal Sonic, but a large explosion engulfed his new partner.  Shadow wasn’t worried, he knew Metal had endured much worse, but he leapt down to attack the falling black robot anyway.  But there was no need, when Shadow got to the ground, the Black Robot called Bass lay in the dust with his arms and legs spread, clearly attempting a solar recharge to assist with jump starting his core.  Shadow picked up the limp arm, and fished out the Chaos emerald within, then moved over to where Metal lay.

 

 

“Are you functional, Metal?” He asked

 

“ _Response: Affirmative, however, the detonation did cause minor system damages, I shall report to the repair facilities in due time_ ” replied a slightly dented and scratched Metal Sonic.

 

Shadow nodded, “Then let’s destroy this thing and be done with it.”  And he moved to pick up Bass to disassemble him, when Bass jerked to life, hitting Shadow in the side of the head with a precisely aimed arm.  Shadow flew back and Metal moved in, but Bass leveled his buster at him, and basted Metal into a back flip, then catching the midair leg and flinging Metal into an oncoming Shadow, knocking them both down.  Bass knew he couldn’t defeat them both with his core depleted like it was.  He was yet again forced to flee, but at the least he still had his Chaos emerald.

 

Shadow Growled with frustration as Bass disappeared in a flash of light, more likely his teleportation module than Chaos Control.  “Metal” he snarled “Prepare to return to base, we need to be better prepared next time”

 

Metal just nodded, his vocabulator having just gone out.  Shadow grasped Metal by his dented and scratched shoulder, crushing it a little more in abject frustration, and both hedgehog fakes disappeared in the burst of chaos energy.

 

They reappeared in front of a very expectant-looking Eggman, who took in the damage to Metal Sonic and the dust covering Shadow’s fur.  “We have failed again Dr.” Shadow grumbled.

 

“So I gathered” said Eggman “Shadow, you know I will not tolerate these failures for long, I’m rather sick of them already, AND YOU ONLY FAILED TWICE!”  Shadow stared up at Eggman defiantly.  The latter sighed, and turned to walk briskly toward the nearest console, calling up the chaos energy tracking device.  “Observe” he pointed to the screen, showing that Bass had gone to the complete opposite side of the planet from their position.  “Intercept, try to engage, then lead him here, and by here I mean at the very least to this hemisphere, that’s all”

 

Shadow grunted “what of Metal?” he asked as he turned to go.

 

“Of course, Metal stays here, he needs repairs and perhaps an upgrade or two, he might join you in awhile.” He nodded and saluted to Shadow, who then flitted out the door.

 

Shadow was neither tired nor injured from his previous encounter with Bass, he was simply annoyed at the dark android’s stubbornness to resist death.  He reappeared in front of a rock outcropping, near a beautiful and clean waterfall, out in the middle of a vast grassy plain.  Taking no notice of any of the beauty, he ran towards the black robot, who sat recharging on the small outcropping of rock.  Then the rocks and the ground around it exploded, knocking Shadow back and ripping apart the ground.  Shadow slowly pushed himself to his feet, alert for more traps, but was able to dodge the attack Bass launched out of the clearing dust cloud.  And the two engaged in a furious fist fight, which became a stunning array of blows, blocks, and counterattacks. Then the two began to incorporate their special abilities into their defenses and attacks.  Shadow lashed out; Punch, kick, kick, chaos spear, chaos blast, sending Bass back against the rubble of his attempted trap.  But suddenly, the color of his armor altered, phasing from black to a brilliant purple.  His buster activated and three extremely sharp sword blades launched from its muzzle.  Shadow back flipped out of the way, and then flung himself forward as more came down from an airborne Bass.  He rolled into a spin dash, launching himself off the rubble and way from the now steel gray Bass, who had fired several spinning saw blade like weapons that had tracked him along the ground.  Shadow homing attacked, defying gravity and attempting to grab the now blue android to transport him to somewhere on the opposite hemisphere as Dr. Eggman had instructed.  But Bass projected several globules of water, halting the hedgehog’s advance.

 

Shadow landed, then tried a tactic, he retreated a short distance, and Bass willingly followed, attempting to take Shadow by surprise with a punch that sailed only through air. Bass and Shadow began teleporting from place to place using Chaos control, each flash of light revealing the two locked in vicious combat.  Eventually when they reengaged, Shadow, sacrificing a movement, instead grabbed for the Chaos emerald in Bass’s right hand. Dislodging it, he grabbed his rival’s forehead, and performed a chaos control back to Eggman land. Throwing Bass down on the ground, he had just enough time to activate his communicator.

 

Dr!” he called, as he blocked a punch to his face “I have him at the base, what now?”  There was no reply, but suddenly, a massive earthquake brought the two combatants crashing down 50 feet away from their starting points, and the sky turned a shining red, until it and half the planet disappeared in a flash of red pixilated energy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THere is something wrong with the programming, where it says
> 
> 1\. Throwing Bass down on the ground, he had just enough time to activate his communicator.
> 
> It should say
> 
> Shadow landed, then tried a tactic, he retreated a short distance, and Bass willingly followed, attempting to take Shadow by surprise with a punch that sailed only through air. Bass and Shadow began teleporting from place to place using Chaos control, each flash of light revealing the two locked in vicious combat. Eventually when they reengaged, Shadow, sacrificing a movement, instead grabbed for the Chaos emerald in Bass’s right hand. Dislodging it, he grabbed his rival’s forehead, and performed a chaos control back to Eggman land. Throwing Bass down on the ground, he had just enough time to activate his communicator.


End file.
